Girl Talk
by Shipperwolf
Summary: A night of consoling her friend forces Carol to face her own feelings for the man in her life. Oneshot, small angst warning.


**Hey guys!**

**Here's another little oneshot from me to help distract from the horrible lack of actual TWD-ness during the Hiatus from Hell.  
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**This one's for Gone Random, who prompted me to write a small moment between girlfriends. I hope I did right by her!  
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**As usual, I do not own TWD or anything related to it. Enjoy!  
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"It's not really any better."

Lori's face was dark, her eyes lowered to the old, dusty floor and a grim frown forming instead of tears.

Carol scooted closer. Offered a half-smile when the woman leaned to the side and bumped their shoulders playfully.

They'd stopped for the night, for the first time in three, Rick and Hershel agreeing that the little abandoned woodland cottage was strong enough, secure enough, for at least one night of actual rest. The place had been boarded up, left as is, its furniture intact but gathering dust, the walls thick and strong enough to keep out unwanted rodents.

It was a small space, two rooms to split between the ten of them. Daryl had found several sheets in the closet and they'd all bundled up against the January cold, teeth occasionally chattering in the silent candlelight.

It was when Rick and Daryl had set out in the early night hour to make a final check of the woods around them that Lori had come settling down with a very pregnant huff beside her, a sad glint in her eye and a need to talk.

Carol leaned against Lori's shoulder slightly, pulled her own sheet up to throw half over her. Lori did the same with hers, and the body warmth began growing almost immediately.

She didn't need to ask her friend to elaborate on her sudden whisper. She knew exactly what Lori had been worrying over, aside from her unborn child.

"He's still not talking to you?"

Lori shook her head, lips tightening even further and her eyes shooting across the room to see Carl rise from his place in a corner and head into the other room. Beth and Hershel were already dozing off on the floor and Carol considered reminding Lori that the bed had been left untouched for her.

It wouldn't do to have an overly aching back come morning, when they would all need to pack up as quickly as possible and get back on the road.

A sniffle reached her ear, and she looked to the side to find that Lori had come to rest her head in her hand, fighting back a whirlwind of emotions. Her distress touched Carol's heart, made it ache for her. It was enough that Lori had to live with her mistakes; the tryst she'd had with Shane loomed over her head like a dark cloud that never dispersed. But then to be pregnant as well, not knowing _whose _baby it was she'd be having, and then to top it off, her husband had shut down on her completely, offering attention only when it came to Lori's physical needs….

And here recently, Carol remembered, Carl too had been distancing himself from his mother, spending more and more time with Rick, Daryl and occasionally Beth.

It had to be an absolute _nightmare_.

Reaching out from underneath the sheet, the cold hit the skin of her arm as her hand gripped Lori's far shoulder to pull her closer. The thick dark hair fell into her face as her friend buried her head into her neck, still refusing to cry, but coming awfully close.

Carol had shared these moments with Lori before, during the months they'd been traveling since leaving Hershel's farm. They spoke little. It wasn't needed, because she was already very much aware of what was constantly troubling the suffering wife and mother.

So she simply breathed and let Lori lean on her, rubbing comforting circles in her back and giving what little support and strength she could.

After several quiet minutes Carol had begun to wonder if the calm breathing against her neck was a sign that Lori had fallen asleep on her.

But then she shifted, sat up just enough to meet Carol's eyes.

"Relationships sure can suck."

A smile cracked both their faces and the somber air between them and she nodded, all too aware.

"Yeah…sometimes they really can."

"But I had it coming, I guess—"

"No. _No_, Lori, don't say something like that. No one deserves to hurt like this. No one deserves to _hurt_. Trust me, I know."

Lori's amused smile faltered but Carol would not let it die. Her friend didn't smile enough for her taste.

"But it'll get better. With time. Once the baby comes...Rick loves you. I know he does." She nudged Lori's shoulder again, rubbed at her back and kept smiling.

It was really all she could do.

Lori seemed to get quiet again, nodding to herself and staring off into space before the sound of steps on the other side of the wall broke the stillness. Outside, the brush rustled. It could be a Walker, or even a small herd of them…

But more likely it was Rick and Daryl, making their way back around the house to settle in themselves.

Dark hair went askew when Lori ran a hand through it and suddenly turned to face her, a grin changing her face completely to one that appeared dangerously curious.

And eyebrow quirked and Carol felt her own bunch together.

"So…speaking of _love_…what's goin' on with you and Daryl?"

God. She saw that one coming a mile away.

That didn't stop her heart from picking up speed, though, or her eyes from darting towards the other room to make sure she hadn't missed the men coming back inside. She chuckled, half-hearted.

Shook her head to both herself and Lori.

"Nothing. I know it…looks like there is, but nothing's goin' on. We're just friends, is all. Really." Carol bit her lip when Lori's grin widened and that long hair of hers shook about with her head.

"Oh no, keep going. I want to hear you try to convince yourself more."

Carol rolled her eyes at Lori's picking.

Truth was, she wasn't sure _what_ was going on between her and Daryl. They'd begun talking more soon after the traveling started, and Daryl would often ask her to come with him on perimeter checks. He'd taught her to shoot a rifle, while Rick had helped her handle the smaller pistols.

He'd started sleeping close to her, in the same room, a few feet away, when he wasn't needed on watch. He'd started asking her how she was feeling every day, or how she was doing, or if she needed his help with cooking when he had time free.

And then there were the jokes. They'd begun picking on each other, laughing sometimes, like old friends but surrounded with an air of…

Tension. A strange one that was there and not there, noticed but ignored.

Carol didn't know. When he touched her, a shoulder pat or skim of her arm, she'd fight a shudder. When he smiled at her, she reminded herself how he'd likely react to her suddenly hugging him.

She loved Daryl, probably. Loved him in a way she hadn't loved a man since long before Sophia had even been born.

Loved him in a way that she knew he wouldn't be able to handle.

Not now.

Smiling to herself, she shook her head again. Lifted her eyes to meet Lori's suddenly serious, questioning ones.

"No, it's not like that. Daryl's my friend. I love him, but I'm not…_in_ love with him."

Lori laughed.

"Do you know how cliché that sounds?"

Reaching out, Carol took her own turn to bury her face into her friend's shoulder, sighing deeply and steeling her resolve.

"Yeah. But it's the truth."


End file.
